It appears that hot pixels are caused from long exposures, high ISOs, and sensor degradation. You’re probably dealing with the last two.

From personal experience, the other thing that can worsen the effect is usage during a session -i.e., you will notice that the 100th picture you take in quick succession will have hotter pixels than the 1st. O…Read more

There isn’t much you can do to prevent the problem – Hot pixels are just sensor pixels that get noisier as the sensor ages. Some cameras (I don’t know about the Nikon D80) have in-body pixel mapping or long…Read more

As for the crop, personally I like Color-Resurrection-Bay-Panorama-1.jpg best.
BW-Resurrection-Bay-Panorama-2.jpg has very little foreground…Read more

I find posing to be one of the hardest things to do, and usually I find that looking at other photographer’s work can give me ideas.

Another place you can go to get ideas is lenspiration.photos.
James’ wedding portfolio and, to a lesser extent, his People and Places portfolio could give you some inspiration.

…if they are too abstract or confusing the way they are edited?

It totally depends on what you’re using the picture for. What is the story you want it to tell? It’s a great way of rescuing an otherwise rather bland picture, in my line of thinking. I’ve done it before too; see attached.

Since leaving only the subject fully saturated…Read more

Would the picture not get too light at f/4 or f/2.8 having it on the bulb setting though?

This is a question best answered by thinking about the three basic factors of image lightness: ISO, aperature, and shutter speed.
The quick answer is that no, it wouldn’t necessarily, if you balance all three settings correctly.

Here is a…Read more

Here’s a great article on how to shoot and combine star trails: https://petapixel.com/2013/03/18/how-to-photograph-star-trails-from-start-to-finish/ (I recommend you have AdBlock Plus installed for that website)

If shooting in Bulb, it’ll take a lot of experimenting. You’ll need 30min to an…

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#1. The European Union. I’m not kidding. Your Nikon camera will always stop recording at 29min:59sec, or 4 GB,…Read more

Good job on using natural light.
I find the colours in tablecloth in the first picture to be just a tad too much; maybe a pure white background would be worth experimenting with. There is so much colour that my eye is not drawn instantly to…Read more

does the dpi of an image matter?

Does the actually in-camera dpi setting matter? Very little.
Does the number of pixels per inch matter? A whole lot.
I’ll try to explain why.

A digitally stored image has no inherent physical dimensions, measured in inches or centimetres.…Read more

does the dpi of an image matter?

Does the actually in-camera dpi setting matter? Very little.
Does the number of pixels per inch matter? A whole lot.
I’ll try to explain why.

A digitally stored image has no inherent physical dimensions, measured in inches or centimetres. Some (not all) digital file formats record a DPI value value, which is…Read more

How does everyone get such sharp images…?

Remember, everyone gets lots and lots of blurry ones, too. You only ever see other people’s best ones! You have some great work there, keep it up.
Here’s a great blog post from lenspiration on the topic of tack sharpness.
Make sure your lenses are perfectly clean. Even an apparently small smudge, or a…Read more

The only one I have experience with is the 50mm. Some people love prime lenses.

That’s me! You learn eventually to “zoom with your feet” instead of your fingers. It’s strange at first.
I was given a broken 50mm f/1.8 prime lens once. It had no autofocus, no IS, and it fell apart literally in my hand if I wasn’t careful.…Read more

Here is one name idea that is really common, (and for good reasons)
YourFirstName YourLastName Photography. (or photos, or some variant thereof)
This isn’t a good idea if your name is Maherhalalhashbaz, nor if it’s John Doe. However, this idea, used…Read more

Questions on stock photography

Stock Photography

Hope this help somewhat,
William

Here are a few articles/forum posts with good hints in them.

12 Tips for Puppy Photography

livestock photography

Feline photos

What do you think of these photos?

#1. Just to be clear, this picture is not taken at eye-level; you’re still shooting from above. Also, the hose in the background is distracting.
However, good job on the position of the dog in the frame. The dog is looking “into” the picture rather than “out”…Read more

One thought is that you could rotate the picture just a degree or two counterclockwise. Maybe I’m being a bit persnickety, but though the horizon isn’t visible, I think the cat kitten would look better if it were sitting up straight as a poker.

#1. Keep your background just that. A background. You did this well in pictures 2 (1484) and 4 (1608). They’re simple and not distracting.

#2. Keep your hand steady and you shutter speed high enough. Did you notice some blurriness in the first picture (1481) as well as in the 2nd (1485)…Read more

@jamesstaddon said:

I’m not even sure if I know what you mean by a “aperture leaver” being in an up or middle position.

I don’t know if this is what @parrisfamily is referring to, but unlike Canon aperatures, which are electronically controlled, Nikon lenses have physical lever (on the back of the l…Read more

• Taking off the lens, and observing what that does?
• Using a different lens?
• switching the on-body, (and/or the lens) autofocus switch to M (Manual)?

The Nikon D90 was introduced in 2008. How old is your camera? Have you (or any previous owner) had any accidents/incidents with it?

The first thing I though of when I saw the picture is, “What is…Read more

You’ve got two good compositions there, especially the second. The second feels a lot more personal than the first (though both are well done); I can see the person, rather than just their hands. I can feel that they are sitting, perhaps meditatively quiet, reading.
Also, your focus in both shots is tack-sharp, with a gorgeous…Read more

Did you have a UV filter on when taking the picture?

No. Just a clear protective filter

I can tell from this image that the centre of the lens is not in the centre of the image.

No, the image is not cropped. But the Christmas tree is not centered on the image, either. Would that make a difference?

And the camera straps flapping in the breeze do give the (true) impression that the camera is actually falling. If you…Read more